View source for Meliosma

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Meliosma (Greek meli, honey, and osma, odor; alluding to the fragrant flowers). Sabiaceae. Trees or shrubs grown for their handsome foliage and the large panicles of white or whitish flowers.

Deciduous or evergreen trees or shrubs: lvs. alternate, without stipules, simple or odd-pinnate, with opposite lfts. serrate or entire: fls. in terminal or axillary panicles, perfect, rarely polygamous; sepals 5, rarely 4; petals 5, unequal, the outer 3 roundish, imbricate; the inner 2 much smaller, usually lanceolate, often bifid; stamens 5, usually connate with the petals, the outer 3 sterile; reduced to irregularly cup-shaped staminodes, the inner 2 fertile, the anthers surrounded at the base by the cup-shaped apex of the filaments; ovary superior, often surrounded by a disk, 2-celled, rarely 3-celled, each cell with 2 ovules; style simple: fr. a subglobose or oblong small drupe, usually 1-seeded.—About 50 species in E. and S. Asia and in Cent, and S. Amer.

The meliosmas in cultivation are handsome, deciduous trees or shrubs with large pinnate or simple, generally oblong leaves with numerous, closely set, lateral veins, with large, often drooping panicles of small white or yellowish usually fragrant flowers followed by pea-sized black or red fruits. Except M. myriantha, they are of recent introduction and little is known of their hardiness and their cultural requirements, but they certainly possess promising ornamental qualities, the handsomest being apparently M. Beaniana and M. Veitchiorum. The latter and M. cuneifolia have proved hardy in southern England, and in this country they will probably be hardy as far north as New York or even New England, while the other species are tenderer. Propagation is by seeds sown as soon as they are ripe; also by layers and probably by cuttings of half-ripened wood under glass.

M. Oldhamii, Miq. Tree, to 60 ft.: lvs. odd-pinnate; lfts. 9-13, ovate to oblong, serrate, nearly glabrous, 2—4 in. long: fls. white, in broad panicles, 8-12 in. across. Cent. China to Korea.—M. pendens, Rehd. & Wilson. Allied to M. myriantha. Shrub. 8-15 ft.: lvs. obovate-elliptic to obovate-oblong, sparingly pubescent beneath, particularly on the veins, 2-5 in. long, panicles slender, drooping, with spreading or rcflexed branches; fls. white. Cent. China.
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